PETALING JAYA: Food delivery operators in Malaysia are seeing a boom in business as the industry undergoes rapid transformation to capture markets and customers across the country, The Malaysian Reserve reported today.

It cited co-founder and chief operating officer of Dahmakan, Jessica Li, as saying that the takeout industry in Malaysia was now enormous with 2.3 million people eating out in Kuala Lumpur alone.

This was based on independent research the company did before committing to the business, the report said.

“We have grown 20% since launching in 2015. The majority of it has been through word of mouth from existing customers along with ‘good’ marketing,” Li was quoted as saying.

“At present, we provide to tens of thousands of customers around KL daily, and it’s not slowed down.”

According to Dahmakan’s website, the company has its own chefs who source local ingredients, design recipes and cook fresh meals daily. Customers place their orders online and the meals are delivered to their doorsteps.

Li said the company was focused on improving its internal operations.

“The best example would be the routing technology that we’ve designed to properly group orders together,” she was quoted as saying.

The Malaysian company is already setting its sights on venturing into the Southeast Asian region in the next five years.

“I think the value proposition of an affordable, convenient, healthy everyday food delivery experience appeals to millions of customers all over the region.

“Our food is tailor-made to make tasty and healthy food accessible for anyone. Offices do not always offer healthy options for busy professionals, so it happens that deep fried and cheaper options are usually the forced choice,” she added.

The Malaysian Reserve also cited Lesley Lim, marketing associate of Honestbee Malaysia, which incorporates the delivery of cooked food, groceries as well as parcels, as saying that the company was looking to become more accesible.

It also plans to expand its services to all major cities in Malaysia, she said.

Lim said the parcel delivery service was receiving positive response, with demands to widen the coverage from some 50 areas currently served in the Klang Valley with more than 100 boutique grocers and about 600 restaurants already on board the platform.

“We’re also looking into working with big supermarkets, boutique grocers, as well as restaurants to provide wider choices to our customers,” Lim was quoted as saying.